Medieval Knight System: Building the Strongest Empire Ever!-Chapter 60: The Babysitter’s Burden

An unexpected person was waiting for me, but I was actually glad.

We had met and exchanged greetings at my investiture ceremony, but since I had to greet so many people, there hadn’t been enough time to build a friendship. All I knew about him was that he was Steinhof’s grandson and that he had married one of Hilda’s friends. Elisabeth, was it?

It turned out that the young lady was the daughter of Viscount Gustav von Loewenbert, the Capital Sentinel Commander who had surrounded Mainhof’s mansion while I was fighting Klugen. The Capital Sentinel Commander was also an important Military Department position and subordinate to my father-in-law. Thanks to that, the relationship between the Military Department and the Steinhof family was good. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"Sir Streit, Fiel is one of the few close confidants my age. Including you, I’ll have at least four promising young knights under my command."

The Crown Prince seemed very proud to have Fiel and me under his command. Since I had received my knighthood from the Crown Prince, it wasn’t unreasonable for him to see me as a confidant, but I wasn’t exactly in a position to blindly pledge loyalty to him. I didn’t know about Fiel, though. Fiel’s disposition was justice (good).

But four young knights?

"Besides Sir Steinhof and me, there are two more?"

"One of them is Eisenach, who couldn’t return due to injury, and the other is Leo."

Ah, I see.

Although Eisenach was the guard captain, his skills weren’t outstanding, and I’d never seen Leo fight, so I couldn’t judge him. That meant the only notable figures under the Crown Prince were Fiel and me. I had earned the title Sword of the Gale as part of the credit from the Crown Prince’s attempted assassination and the hero-making effort.

Fiel didn’t have a title, but he had the prestige of the great military family of Steinhof behind him. From the Crown Prince’s perspective, having just Fiel and me as close confidants already gave him considerable standing. The truth was, he was in a position where he couldn’t properly speak up against the wily ministers.

"I’m planning to bring Fiel on this campaign as well."

"Shamefully, unlike Sir Streit, I haven’t experienced actual combat yet."

The grandson of Adolf, who had cut down French knights like stalks of grain, still had no actual combat experience? Setting aside military service, lacking combat experience was a serious problem. Going to war without it was like trying to run before you could walk.

"Then you’ll be able to learn a great deal on this campaign."

"That’s why I’m asking—if you have time, would you spar with me?"

Fiel seemed eager to spar with me. I would have liked that too, but right now it was more important to get a detailed explanation about the ministerial meeting from my father-in-law, who had returned to the Military Department in a fury. So I promised Fiel I’d send word when I had time.

"That’s a shame. Then I’ll wait eagerly until word comes."

"You’re not some lovesick maiden—what are you waiting eagerly for?"

The Crown Prince glanced at Fiel with an incredulous expression. Fiel seemed to realize his words sounded a bit odd and laughed awkwardly. The Crown Prince then expressed anticipation for the coming campaign with Leo, saying it was an opportunity for them to demonstrate the Steinhof-Wehr swordsmanship they had learned from their master.

"I can finally grow from a sheltered prince into a knight who’s experienced the battlefield."

"Unfortunately, there won’t be any occasion for Your Highness to directly wield a sword in battle."

"What are you talking about? If you’re standing on the battlefield, isn’t it only natural to fight the enemy!"

This was dangerous talk.

The Crown Prince directly fighting the enemy?

Just the thought made me dizzy.

From the moment the Crown Prince’s campaign was confirmed, I planned to ensure there would be absolutely no situation where the Crown Prince would face the enemy alone. Michael would surely share the same view. If the Crown Prince were hurt or killed, the responsibility would fall on the Grand Duke, who had vowed to bear it himself, but we would obviously get swept up in the aftermath.

That was why my father-in-law was trying to prepare over four times the usual number of troops. If the enemy were vagrants numbering around fifty, their combat power would be nothing special and we could win easily, but more important than victory was keeping the Crown Prince safe. That was why I had been attached as support—to prevent the Crown Prince from acting rashly.

My role was to keep the Crown Prince in check so he couldn’t move recklessly, while Michael commanded the troops and dealt with the enemy. I wasn’t unsympathetic to the Crown Prince’s desire to make a name for himself and earn merit on his first battlefield, but it was my first battlefield too.

It was enough for the Crown Prince to simply learn how armies operated in the field. After I persuaded him with passion and sincerity, the Crown Prince looked very dissatisfied but seemed to understand somewhat. If he had been a hopeless youngster, I wouldn’t have bothered persuading him so earnestly.

"Since Your Highness is intelligent, please bear with your dissatisfaction for the moment."

You’re intelligent, so you understand why I’m opposed, right? When I coaxed him gently like this, the Crown Prince sighed and turned his gaze to Vermeer.

"Sigh, Leo. Do you feel the same?"

"In my heart, I want to support Lord Franz, but thinking objectively, Sir Streit is right. Lord Franz’s life is absolutely not something to be taken lightly. Please rein in your youthful energy just this once."

Vermeer agreed with my position, so the Crown Prince eventually reined in his eagerness. Anyone else might not have worked, but Vermeer’s persuasion was quite effective. Hilda’s probably would be too. If the Crown Prince had been a lone wolf, dealing with him would have been exhausting. So I was glad he was a reasonable person.

The Crown Prince’s disposition was justice (good).

Completely different from his father. This sounded dangerous to say, but could he be a different child? Father and son were too different. And Vermeer, who followed the Crown Prince without question, was loyalty (good). Since the Crown Prince’s disposition pursued justice and good, I had no particular complaints about serving him as my lord.

If he had resembled the Grand Duke of conspiracy (neutral), it would have been incredibly tiresome.

Please, don’t take after the Grand Duke. Always pursue justice and good.

"I envy you, Fiel."

"I also intend to follow the commander’s orders on the battlefield."

"But you have the honor of fighting the enemy."

He seemed to harbor a romantic notion about crossing swords and battling the enemy. As always, romance was just romance, and reality was always a gutter. There had been no romance in my own combat experience, either. It was simply a matter of living or dying. If the Crown Prince could learn that truth, wouldn’t he grow one step further?

I returned to the Military Department.

The campaign preparations were the Military Department’s responsibility anyway, and the Crown Prince just needed to pack his armor and weapons and show up. When I arrived at the War Minister’s office, I found Michael pacing outside the door. He seemed to be going back and forth like a puppy that couldn’t hold it in any longer. But there were also crashing sounds from inside.

Crash!

"Brother-in-law, you absolutely must not go inside right now."

Crack!

Was my father-in-law throwing office furniture?

"Does... Father-in-law do this often?"

"Usually he just broke tables, but today he seems truly furious. What the hell happened at the ministerial meeting? They’re telling me to hand over the Rafel executive I was interrogating to the Judicial Department."

"Well..."

I briefly explained what had happened at the ministerial meeting.

Michael could understand why his father was so angry.

"We could have crushed Finance through legal channels, but that old fox pulled a trick. No wonder he recommended you as the Crown Prince’s campaign unit commander. You’ve had a rough time, brother-in-law."

"Why are you talking like it’s someone else’s problem? You’re the unit commander—I’m just the support."

"...What?"

Michael, who had assumed I would be bearing all the responsibility, was shocked to learn that he had been selected as unit commander. Ignorant nobles would be jealous, calling it a glorious position, but anyone with proper sense would feel tremendous pressure at the very idea of taking the Crown Prince on campaign. Michael was the latter.

"Father should leave some furniture intact."

"Why?"

"So I can break the rest!"

Today seemed destined to be the day all the furniture at the Military Department was smashed.

After waiting for my father-in-law and Michael to calm down, I went inside. It was a wreck. My father-in-law really did seem incredibly strong. The desk was split in two, and the decorative sculpture had been broken into five pieces. Could most of the War Minister’s official allowance be going toward replacing damaged furniture?

While I was surveying the broken furniture and sculpture, my father-in-law explained that most of it had been bribes anyway, so there was still plenty left to break. Well, if you occupied a minister’s seat, you’d receive all kinds of bribes and gifts.

As long as you didn’t form a cartel like the one between Rafel, the merchant guild, and Finance to extract unfair profits, receiving bribes wasn’t a major problem. However, because this cartel had crossed the acceptable line, Rafel was smashed, and the merchant guild and Night Guild were reduced to wastelands by the Judicial Department.

Finance had diverted attention by supporting the Crown Prince’s campaign to avoid a crisis, and the observing Administrative Department had clearly done something behind the scenes to stop cooperating with the Military Department. Since the Judicial Department had been reluctant to clash with Finance from the start and had only pulled in the Military Department as leverage, this incident was very likely to fizzle out.

And that made my father-in-law furious.

"Father-in-law, are you alright?"

"Sorry for showing you such a pathetic sight, son-in-law. I’ve calmed down a bit now."

My father-in-law, who claimed he’d calmed down, proceeded to curse the Finance Minister about thirty times while talking with me. Michael and I sat side by side before my father-in-law and listened to the full account. The Finance Minister had requested a ministerial meeting, saying he would arrange a campaign opportunity for the Crown Prince—something he had previously opposed.

The Crown Prince, naturally unaware of the detailed circumstances, had requested the ministerial meeting from the Grand Duke. If the Finance Minister reversed his position to support the campaign, the expedition the Crown Prince had wanted so badly could become a reality. When news came that the ministerial meeting had been summoned, my father-in-law thought the Finance Minister was finally surrendering.

"The Crown Prince’s campaign was just bait. The Finance Minister’s real intention was to arrange mediation through His Highness. And His Highness sided with Finance! The Administrative Department siding with Finance must have been agreed upon beforehand. If we’d progressed just a bit further, I could have brought that bastard down!"

"But why did His Highness side with Finance?"

"He must be thinking of creating a large debt with Finance to exploit at his convenience. The Finance Minister judged it was better to cling to the Grand Duke and be squeezed than to be held accountable by us. That old fox!"

The Grand Duke Karlus I had seen today would certainly do that. The Finance Minister, fearing what the Military Department’s campaign against him might bring, had chosen the path of clinging to Grand Duke Karlus if it meant preserving his position. As a result, Finance escaped with minimal damage and perfectly diverted attention using the Crown Prince’s campaign.

Why wouldn’t the Finance Minister be punished? Because this was a world of kings and nobles.

Noble society is purely a clash of interests against interests.

My father-in-law hadn’t attacked Finance—which had profited from its collusive relationships—for the sake of justice and order. He had attacked to bring down a rival he clashed with at every turn. If Finance were brought down and a more pliable minister were appointed, wouldn’t the Military Department be able to extract budgets freely? This was all a fight over interests.

And because he couldn’t see a clear resolution in this fight and it had ended in a draw, my father-in-law was furious. Speaking of justice in noble society is a very naive notion. The closer you get to the center, the more the royal palace becomes a place rife with dark struggles and schemes.

And so I reported what had happened with Adelbert.